Stairway Conversations: The Inauguration

Welcome to a new segment of the Bulldog Blog dedicated to eavesdropping on random people’s conversations on different staircases around campus. I think most people would be pretty interested – or confused – if they really heard everything said while walking up the stairs to class.

Whether you’re walking up the stairs in College Hall and overhear someone talking about the validity of lawnmowers (yes, lawnmowers) or walking down the stairs in the rotunda of Hemmingson and hear someone talking about their brutal breakup from last night, there are so many unheard stories waiting to be told.

And that is exactly where I come in.

Every now and then when I walk up and down the stairs all across campus I’ll listen in for little snippets of untold stories – and then comment on them. And maybe, just maybe, use a little creative license.

Date: September 25, 2015

Building: Hemmingson

Staircase: East side of the building, near the COG

Overheard: “I cannot believe that they just spent millions of dollars on this building and they’re playing music out of a small little speaker on a stand.”

I cannot even fathom how this conversation came about. Well, maybe I can: Two people walk out of the COG and toward the stairs. At an even pace, they pass by brand new couches as their dirty shoes break in the carpet. As they reach the top of the stairs the natural wood of the handrail turns into a brushed metal. Looking forward, they gaze through floor-to-ceiling windows that let light pour in and right then must be thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe this place doesn’t have built-in speakers.”

Wait, what? That makes no sense. They cannot possibly be walking through a brand new, $60 million building.

Well, fellow Zag, let me start of by apologizing for your inconvenience. I know how hard it can be to not be able to hear music come out of built-in speakers – I mean, they really change the entire music experience. (Not.)

While I acknowledge this may not be the first time I have heard that people don’t like the lack of speakers in the building, I’m not sure we have much room for complaining. I mean, take things into perspective: you get to go to school at this amazing place and get to utilize a huge, new student center. It has pretty much everything you could ever need – except, of course, universal speakers. And yet somehow, and this may just be a gut feeling, we’ll all get by.